I Would Take It Home.

Here lately the news has really saddened me and I honestly can’t believe my eyes when I read about what happens to children with horrible homes and parents. It breaks my heart. And now even elderly abuse.

It almost seems like its worse than ever if maybe I pay closer attention cause I now have kids of my own. I like to think if I was on meth like more than half of the stories involve I would at least give my child up for adoption ??

I have no idea how social workers do what they do I would live that horror every minute of everyday and always take it home with me. After seeing and dealing with all that I honestly think it has to change something in your mind.

But sadly the pay for those types of job are still being cut ? How and who decided that ? It blows my mind.

I live in a Tiny town where lots of people have teuned to drugs and a horrible lifestyle for kids I wish so bad you have to get a clearance to have kids sometimes.

Below are just a few of the examples I read every single day in the news ! Why I don’t understand? Why haven’t people turned these people in or at least call the police about the drugs… Then the state would step in for the kids.

The state can’t do it all we must be a voice for these babies. I would never be the same if I worked with social services.

Below you can read there has been some improvement but that doesn’t mean the pay will be fair.

Signs of Improvement: A Review of the CQC State of Care Report It will come as a relief to many working in the Health and Social Care sectors that the situation, post-Mid Staffordshire, shows signs of improvement across the board. The publication of the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) annual State of Care Report for 2015/2016 reveals that, by the end of May 2015, the CQC re-inspection of 123 services showed that 50% had improved and for adult social care nearly 60% of services were rated either “good” or “outstanding”. Nevertheless, the CQC is acutely aware of the enormous challenges ahead, not least in facing new legislation, changing care needs and increasingly straitened financial circumstances. The implications for social work jobs are not entirely promising, however. As planned funding cuts of between 25 and 40% come into force, the CQC admits that staffing at all levels and in all sectors has been and will continue to be where Health and Social Care performance is most keenly felt. The Report quotes the National Audit Office in stating that local authority budgets have been reduced by 37% in real terms and on a like for like basis over the last five years. Inevitably, Health Trusts have already made cost savings by reducing fees to providers which, in turn, has meant lower pay for care workers and, critically, low skill levels. Forecast increases in the Minimum Wage will only add to the financial burden. The CQC states that 94% of services inspected and rated “good” or “outstanding” overall were likewise rated in terms of leadership and it is here that the Report sees the way forward. However, if the figures are broken down further, it can be seen that up to 31st May 2015, only 17% of adult social care services had been inspected and rated. Of these, 59% were rated good or outstanding overall, 33% were considered to be requiring improvement and 7% remained “inadequate”. In fact, staffing issues stand out as the key area requiring improvement: for some services the CQC admits that they are struggling to recruit the right staff, with an alarming vacancy rate of 5%. The Reports conclusions are positive, if Utopian: Our challenge to all health and social care services, and the system overall, is therefore to continue to put quality of care at the centre of change, and not fall into the trap of seeing innovation as only driven by the need to save money.

(This news article is UK based but also very spot on for the US)

What are yall’s thoughts on this matter am I wrong for thinking we as regular people could help this more than we do?

I would take it home with me too. My husband's job (not SW) is heavy sometimes and he says after a while you learn to compartmentalize it better. But some days I can tell he's been in the thick of some really rough stuff. I wish I knew what to do but I think most of us are out of our element here...

I think people in society could help so much more than they do. Over here in the UK ppl are reluctant to get involved in any domestic or child abuse but I don't know why. I personally have pulled up a parent twice in the middle of a street over their treatment of a child I've witnessed and called the police on one of those occasions.
If more people helped less people and children would be abused. We must stand up for those who cannot:)

Such a shame for the children involved. We thought one of my daughter's friends was being neglected, so we reported it. Although we didn't hear back from social services, we noticed an improvement in the general well being of the child :)

Heartbreaking- I want to find and hug all of these children- and maybe spend some time alone with these parents!. We got to spend time with a middle schooler this past year who was in foster care, and the things he shared with me just tore me up inside. How parents could let their children experience these things, I'll never know.

We, as a society, have a responsibility to use our resources to help those without a voice, like these innocent children. Advocating, volunteering, financially supporting, etc. are part of the very complex solution to all of this.

I know because I have been through the same situation, I was emotionally and physically abused from the age of six and bullied my whole life and it took a long time before I was given clarity and help.

It is so sad. Social workers have one of the hardest jobs out there. I couldn't stand to see all these kids hurt and abused like that. It breaks my heart and the mama inside of me wants to show all of those babies and kids how loved they can be.

Echoing thoughts I've been thinking myself recently. Here in So Cal there was a recent case of a baby dying in an oven. The older kids (toddlers themselves) had been left alone while the mother and boyfriend went out and they put the baby in the oven and turned it on :( The mother was already under child services investigation. But the baby died.
Too much sadness lately.

It really is a very sad and scary situation. I am not sure how to turn things around. As a teacher I am a mandated reporter and I absolutely believe that we need more social workers as their case load can be way too much to handle. There also needs to be more drug abuse programs available.

This is really sad. What a tough job. I'm getting my master's in marriage and family counseling and one of my biggest fears is that I'll take my job home with me as well. I know it will be so hard not to let my work consume me.
Happy New Year,
Allison

Before I became a psychologist I was a social worker. I did child abuse investigations but after I became pregnant with my first child I could no longer detach from the situations and had to choose a new career. Great post.

It's always easier to not think about these kinds of things but they are real so real. The moms that live through meth addiction need help, and the social workers for sure take all that energy home with them, how could they not? Im sure it makes you think that in reality you actually don't have it all that bad. right?

I am with you a million percent!! I don't have children and these stories still really effect me in the big way. In fact, they remind me of why I want to be a foster mom. I hear about these children on the news and think, "Holy shit, they could've been with me instead." I've contacted the foster agency, but no reply yet. Hats off to social workers. We need these people. Wish they were better compensated though!

I am a former case manager for peoples with disabilities and I worked closely with CPS in some cases. It is heart breaking what they can find and yes, you do take it home with you. It creates a lot of sleepless nights. But, people do the best they can within the limits of the system, and then there are some rebels who push the limits. We always said we don't do this for the pay check, we do this because we feel called to do it. It's a paycheck of the heart. I stopped watching the news once I became a parent. It is too overwhelming!

I know this sounds crazy to most, but one thing that would help is to reduce welfare for people for having kids. People without kids get much less help from welfare, so it entices people to have kids and more of them for the money when they just want to be doing drugs.

I'm from a smaller town in Georgia where so many people have similar reports, or reports of children taken away due to neglect. It's absolutely horrifying to find out it happens in a place that was once so safe.

Our local government has finally allotted more money to child protective services, but that was only after a ridiculous amount of debate about whether it was "needed" or not, and after yet another sports stadium got public funding. It only happened after enough community outcry about deaths of small children whose families had already been reported.
The system is broken. Before the latest rounds of reforms, investigations were "voluntary" meaning families being investigated could opt out, which made no sense at all. Now, they have no choice. It may be unfair for a small minority, but for those at risk kids, it's the only option.
Still, it's so incredibly sad. It's the voiceless who need our voices the most.

I got my degree in psychology and often thought about getting my masters in social work, but I talk myself out of it every time for that reason. I'd bring it home with me. It would disturb me so much. I hate the way this world seems to be turning - normalizing drugs and mental illness, etc. It saddens me so much. I just pray really hard for our leaders that we can get it turned back around and work to fix our broken system.

That is just so sad! As a teacher I see sad circumstances every single day, kids whose parents drive really nice vehicles and are most likely selling/using drugs, but don't bother to buy their kids a jacket for winter time.
xoxo, SS
The Southern Stylista

There is definitely, definitely more that we can do but as usual, I feel like we're held back by a lot of red tape. I've also heard a lot of stories near where I am of people who try to help but the system makes it difficult for them to really take any action. But I do try to keep an eye out for signs that something's not right, wherever I go!

I want to go into social work (or something like that) and I am trying to figure out how not to take it home with me. Mistreatment of another human more so those who cannot fight back (like children and the elderly) gets me so pissed. I really wish people were less scared if you feel something is wrong you might call the police for no reason but better safe than sorry. Great post.

I agree with Kelly. Sometimes getting involved ends up getting ourselves in trouble legally, and a lot of people have their own children they have to make sure are taken care of. Unfortunately, our society has less of a "It takes a village" mentality and more of a "take care of yourself" mentality. I know those social workers are not paid or appreciated enough!

I sympathize. As a school counselor, my job is to report when kids tell me about abuse or neglect. The hard part is leaving it there in my report, just waiting for DFCS (department of family and children's services) to take over when I know they are overworked and underpaid. Our government needs to look at why services like this work so hard, have huge case loads, and can barely afford to feed their families.

It is always so hard to read these stories. I will never understand why some people treat children so horribly. I think a lot of people want to help, but don't know what to do or how. If only our government cared as much for a child after it was born, then they do while it is still in the womb.

It really breaks my heart to read these kind of stories, I wish there were people that took a test to have children. I know that sounds silly, but it's parents like these that just don't deserve them.
liz @ sundays with sophie

It is so hard to read and live these stories. My parents worked to help these kids when I was a child and I often played with children experiencing traumas. It opened my eyes and made me a more sympathetic person I think

stories like this are so heartbreaking and devastating. choosing drugs over the care of your children is awful and i think that we should all try and make efforts to step in when we see parents neglecting their children

I really admire the work that social workers do. They are true heroes. I honestly am too much of a bleeding heart. I’d probably go home crying every day. I’m so glad these people exist and put up with the less ideal work conditions because there are a lot of people out there who don’t have it together and social workers can make a huge difference for them or their children.
As far as the regular people go there are small things you can do to help like donating your time or clothes. Speaking up when you see abuse. Tiny things make a huge difference